Giants hammer Atlanta pitching?

Taking three of four from Atlanta rates as an accomplishment in and of itself, but considering how good the Braves’ pitching has been for the past 15 years, can you remember a four-game series against Atlanta in which the Giants scored at least six runs in each game?

Lance Niekro unloads on a Chris Reitsma changeup.

It must have happened, but it’ll take some research to figure out when. In any event, if the Giants win one of the three games they play at Turner Field in late August, they’ll take the season series from Atlanta, something that has happened only twice (1999, 2003) since S.F. went 13-5 against the Braves in 1990.

As for Jason Schmidt, Giants fans again should be neither too excited nor too down about his performance. At times Sunday, he certainly looked more dominant than he did Monday in San Diego (10 K’s in 7 innings vs. Atl., 2 K’s in 7 innings at S.D.), but he again allowed a multi-run homer in the sixth inning (three-run shot by Andruw Jones on Sunday, two-runner by Khalil Greene on Monday) and he again left after seven innings with the Giants trailing. Schmidt clearly hasn’t been bad in his first two starts, but he hasn’t been in complete command, either.